Slow Cooked Beef Stew

I just love soups and stews, even in the summertime! This beef stew turned out to be pretty easy.  There was a little more prep than your average crock pot meal but you have dinner for several days with it! And it was nice and thick and yummy! It does call for flour which is usually a no no for Elijah and me but we were having a guest for dinner (Hi JT!) so I didn't want to experiment and I figured the half cup of flour that goes in this giant pot of stew was not really a big deal.  I did use a little corn starch as well for thickening. Next time, I plan to use a GF flour and maybe potato starch instead. After tasting this stew, I realized there is not much you could do to mess it up. YUM!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew 

• 2 lbs of stewing beef, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil ( I used quite a bit more to prevent sticking and give it that carmel brown color)
• 2 medium sized onions, chopped into large pieces
• 2 ribs celery, chopped 
• 4 carrots, chopped ( I used 6-8)
• about 20 mini-potatoes, cut large ones in half, leave smallest ones as is (I like to use a mix of yellow, red and blue, no need to peel)
• 1  28 oz. can whole tomatoes (I use plum tomatoes)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 3 cups sodium reduced beef broth, divided
• 2 bay leaves ( I love bay leaves so I had several throught the stew)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (Honestly I don't overdo salt but this called for A LOT more salt. Add and taste throughout cooking then again at the end)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper ( again, I used a little more than this)
• 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and then lightly brown the meat in batches. Transfer browned beef to a plate and set aside.

Dump the tomatoes into the slow cooker (juice and all). Crush them with a potato masher or the back of a spoon.  Note: the tomatoes will squirt juice everywhere! Next time I may buy them already in pieces on use a food processor to break them into chunks. 

Add the onions, celery, carrots and potatoes. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the vegetables and then add the beef and any accumulated drippings. Pour 2 1/2 cups of the beef broth over the beef and vegetables. Give the mixture a quick stir. Add the bay leaves.

Cover and cook on low for 8 – 10 hours.

About 20 minutes before serving, add the peas (no need to defrost first), salt and pepper. In a small bowl whisk together the flour and remaining 1/2 cup of beef broth, creating a smooth paste. Stir into the stew. Replace the slow cooker cover and cook until thickened (about 15-20 minutes).

Remove the bay leaves before serving.  ( I actually leave them in there and just warn people to pick them out)